Homemade nut and seed butters

Recipe steps

To make nut butter, we need a powerful blender. The preparation time can range from 2 to 25 minutes depending on the type of blender. In the blender's container, we place the nuts or seeds (I usually use 200 g) and start blending. First, the nuts get chopped into larger pieces (phase 1), then they are processed into a fine powder (phase 2). As the fat is released, moist clumps begin to form (phase 3). At this stage, it is recommended to add 1 tablespoon of oil (however, I usually don’t add it), a pinch of salt (if we have salted nuts, we skip the salt), and possibly other flavorings. The next phase is a thick paste with pieces of nuts (phase 4). As we continue blending, the paste gradually becomes smoother and thinner until we finally obtain a smooth nut paste (phase 5).

There are usually two types of nut butters: crunchy and smooth. If we prefer the crunchy version, we can remove some of the chopped nuts after the first blending and mix them into the finished paste at the end.

Various recipes on the internet recommend adding a tablespoon of oil when clumps start to form while blending. However, I think the nuts are fatty enough, so I don't add oil.

We can use both shelled and unshelled nuts, or a combination of both types. They can be dry roasted or natural. The cheapest and simplest option is roasted peanuts, which are usually salted. Before preparation, we just need to wipe them with a cloth, which partially removes the salt and replaces the remaining salt with artificial salt. We should not soak the nuts before blending, and if we do, we must dry them thoroughly, as the presence of water could shorten the shelf life of the finished butter.

For truly healthy butter, it is better to choose nuts of organic quality. Commonly available roasted peanuts, which cost around 33–40 CZK for half a kilogram, may contain mold and toxins, so it is worth investing in higher quality products.